Ian Neil Templeman (10 October 1938 – 3 November 2015) was an Australian poet, artist and arts administrator.

History

Templeman was born in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

, a suburb of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia, the only child of (Merle) Daphne Templeman, née Hutchison, and Ronald Strachan Templeman (born 23 March 1908) of 21 Arlington Avenue. South Perth, who married on 13 April 1931. He was an active member of the

Young Australia League The Young Australia League (Inc) (YAL) is an Australian youth organisation which was formed in Perth, Western Australia in 1905 by Jack Simons and Lionel Boas. Developed as a means to encourage Australian nationalism and patriotic values, the org ...

, taking an prominent part in their stage performances of the early 1950s. He was already an established painter and arts teacher when he began studying for an arts degree at the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

, specialising in English literature and poetry. He was an accomplished athlete, who competed successfully at State level. He was appointed National Executive Officer of the Australian Society for Education through the Arts He served as assistant to the director of the

Festival of Perth Perth Festival, named Perth International Arts Festival (PIAF) between 2000 and 2017, and sometimes referred to as the Festival of Perth, is Australia's longest-running cultural festival, held annually in Western Australia. The program features ...

. In 1973 he was appointed director of the newly-founded

Fremantle Arts Centre The Fremantle Arts Centre is a multi-arts organisation based in a historic building complex on Ord Street in Fremantle, Western Australia. The heritage-listed building complex was built using convict labour between 1861 and 1868 and was used ...

, overseeing a program of consolidation and expansion, establishing the

Fremantle Arts Centre Press Fremantle Press (formerly known as Fremantle Arts Centre Press) is an independent publisher in Western Australia. Fremantle Press was established by the Fremantle Arts Centre in 1976. It focuses on publishing Western Australian writers and writin ...

in 1975. In 1990 he moved to Canberra to take up an assistant Director-General position with the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

. One of his projects was to establish the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: *National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra *National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London, with s ...

. During this time he founded Molonglo Press as a private concern, and in 1998 left the Library to direct its operation. The following year he took on the role of Director of Publications of the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

, Canberra.

Other interests

Templeman was involved in: *Western Australian Literary Fund *Australia Council *National Library of Australia *Public Lending Rights Committee *Chair of the ACT Cultural Council in 2002 *Public Art Advisory Panel to the

Chief Minister of the ACT The chief minister of the Australian Capital Territory is the head of ACT Government, government of the Australian Capital Territory. The leader of the party with the largest number of seats in the unicameral Australian Capital Territory Legislat ...

2006–2011 He continued to write poetry for newspapers and literary magazines, also in collected editions; also essays and memoirs

Recognition

*Appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in 1989 *Elected Honorary Fellow of the

Australian Academy of the Humanities The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia. It operates as an independent not-for-profit organisation partly funded by the Australia ...

in 2004 *Awarded honorary DLitt by the University of Western Australia in 2007 Novelist

Sara Dowse Sara Dowse (born 12 November 1938) is an American-born Australian feminist, author, critic, social commentator, and visual artist. Her novels include ''Schemetime'' published in 1990, ''Sapphires'', and ''As the Lonely Fly'', and she has contribu ...

said of him "He was one of life's great enthusiasts. He gave so much."

Publications

*''Poems'' (1979) *''These Glimpsed Interiors'' (1997) *''An Incomplete Memoir'' (2001)

Personal

Templeman married the artist

Romola Clifton Romola Clifton (born 30 November 1935) is an Australian artist who won the Claude Hotchin, Claude Hotchin Art Prize for watercolor in 1956 and the Helena Rubinstein Portrait Prize in 1960. Career Clifton was born in Perth, Western Australia, daugh ...

, and had a hand in publishing some of her work as greeting cards. They had two sons: Paul and Nicholas, and a daughter Amelia. He died aged 77, four years after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. No relationship with the Western Australian politician David Alan Templeman (born 21 November 1965) has been found.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Templeman, Ian 1938 births 2015 deaths Australian poets Australian male poets Australian arts administrators